IMC (3.0 @ 21st level @ 6.5 years) the party has gone full bore into Leadership and property ownership. But I pushed them there.
I wanted to make them feel heroic and the way I did that was to make them realize what it was to be common. Towns charged taxes at the gates, guards looked askance at heavily armed travelers lacking livery, and there was quite a bit of time spent cooling their heels before they got to see anyone of any importance.
After scoring their first real pile of loot and routing a few bandits, they acquired documents that declared them to be held in good standing with the merchants at a smallish town. Nothing really spectacular, but enough that guards stopped giving them the stink eye at most of the cities in the region.
Around 5th level I used the AEG module "Kuroshin's garden" (sp?). The party escorted the freed peasants to the nearest fortified town, which IMC was a fairly sizable city. The city fathers gave them some relatively minor cash reward, granted the PCs documents exempting them from the city's entry tax and the guards now knew them by sight as do-gooders.
A few months later, ~6th level, they went through the "Servants of the Blood moon" module. By the time the militia arrived, the party had cleaned up the worst of the baddies, though there were few survivors this time. The party was given military rank (captains, retired) which entitled them to a military trial instead of civilian law if they chose, let them use the King's Highways without toll, and gave them a smattering of authority if they ran into more weirdness but not so much that they could cause much trouble. Various minor nobles expressed a debt of gratitude and the players finally glommed onto the fact that rewards are not always golden.
After that they did their best to keep their more questionable adventures quiet and to find ways to play up the good things to the powers that be. Kill a bullette? Get the head mounted and present it to the local lord as a gift. They began offering their services as compared to asking for work. The rewards were a bit less tangible at first (introductions to more powerful people) but led to opportunities for investment (more adventure hooks), grants of land, and more authority. (The PCs hold the rank of colonel in the King's Company; enough to outrank a baron, argue with a count or get a duke to take you seriously.) They could draw on the militia's resources, didn't pay any entry taxes or tolls, and could demand lodging from any noble or town. With the exceptions of dukes and royalty they almost never spend time waiting for someone to see them. When traveling to other countries they are given healthy respect (if sometimes tinged with fear or mistrust) as their documents, dress, and livery marks them to be dangerous people, both from what they can do and who they know.
They covet land because they've realized that land is the real source of wealth. A blacksmith with no place to set his anvil is just a man with a heavy load. They had acquired several small properties; some gifts, others as part of an agreement, one an outright purchase. Now they are vying to claim their own country, a place about the size of Singapore, that was a territory of the elves but was officially abandoned after a greater demon destroyed the only city of note.
